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Legitimizing Negative Aspects in GRI-Oriented Sustainability Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosure Strategies
Rüdiger Hahn,Regina Lülfs +1 more
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In this paper, the authors analyze the communicative legitimation strategies companies use to report negative aspects, i.e., negative ecological and social impact caused by corporate activity, and propose a concise characterization of negative aspects and develop a GRI-compliant schema of reporting about them.Abstract:
Corporate sustainability reports are supposed to provide a complete and balanced picture of corporate sustainability performance. They are, however, usually voluntary and thus prone to interpretation and even greenwashing tendencies. To overcome this problem, the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) provides standardized reporting guidelines challenging companies to report positive and negative aspects of an organization’s sustainability performance. However, the reporting of “negative aspects” in particular can endanger corporate legitimacy if perceived by the stakeholders as not being in line with societal norms and values. Starting from the theoretical lenses of economics-based disclosure theories and socio-political theories of disclosure the focus of this study therefore was to analyze the communicative legitimation strategies companies use to report “negative aspects,” i.e., negative ecological and social impact caused by corporate activity.Using qualitative content analysis of GRI-oriented sustainability reports from companies listed on the US Dow Jones Industrial Average Index and on the German DAX Index, we identified six legitimation strategies. We discuss these strategies regarding to symbolic and substantial management of legitimacy. We show that symbolic legitimation strategies aiming at modifying the perception of legitimizing stakeholders dominate in the reports at hand. Such persuasion, however, does not meet the requirement of impartiality as postulated by the GRI guidelines. Building upon this conclusion we propose a concise characterization of “negative aspects” and develop a GRI-compliant schema of reporting about them. In doing so, we offer a way to improve the overall “balance” of sustainability reporting contributing to a true and fair view in sustainability disclosure.read more
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The iron cage revisited: Institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields (Chinese Translation)
Paul DiMaggio,Walter W. Powell +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them, and describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative.
Posted Content
Determinants of Sustainability Reporting: A Review of Results, Trends, Theory, and Opportunities in an Expanding Field of Research
Rüdiger Hahn,Michael Kühnen +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a review of 178 articles dating from 1999 to 2011 from journals related to business, management, and accounting to identify what determinants of sustainability reporting are examined in the literature and to identify (in)consistencies, gaps, and opportunities for future research.
Journal ArticleDOI
Corporate Governance and Sustainability Performance: Analysis of Triple Bottom Line Performance
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate the relationship between corporate governance and the triple bottom line sustainability performance through the lens of agency theory and stakeholder theory, and find that no single theory fully accounts for all the hypothesised relationships.
Journal ArticleDOI
Environmental Legitimacy, Green Innovation, and Corporate Carbon Disclosure: Evidence from CDP China 100
TL;DR: Li et al. as discussed by the authors explored the influence of environmental legitimacy (an external informal mechanism) on corporate carbon disclosure, and investigated the role of green innovation (an internal formal mechanism) as a mediator.
Book
社会・環境報告書 = Sustainability report
TL;DR: The Dimensional Fund Advisors LP as mentioned in this paper is an investment advisor registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is an alternative investment advisor to the DFA Securities LLC.
References
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Book
Basics of qualitative research : techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory
TL;DR: Theoretical Foundations and Practical Considerations for Getting Started and Techniques for Achieving Theoretical Integration are presented.
Book ChapterDOI
The iron cage revisited institutional isomorphism and collective rationality in organizational fields
Paul DiMaggio,Walter W. Powell +1 more
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that rational actors make their organizations increasingly similar as they try to change them, and describe three isomorphic processes-coercive, mimetic, and normative.
Book
Basics of qualitative research : techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present strategies for qualitative data analysis, including context, process and theoretical integration, and provide a criterion for evaluation of these strategies and answers to student questions and answers.
Book
Content analysis: an introduction to its methodology
TL;DR: History Conceptual Foundations Uses and Kinds of Inference The Logic of Content Analysis Designs Unitizing Sampling Recording Data Languages Constructs for Inference Analytical Techniques The Use of Computers Reliability Validity A Practical Guide
Journal ArticleDOI
Institutionalized Organizations: Formal Structure as Myth and Ceremony
John W. Meyer,Brian Rowan +1 more
TL;DR: Many formal organizational structures arise as reflections of rationalized institutional rules as discussed by the authors, and the elaboration of such rules in modern states and societies accounts in part for the expansion and i...
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Legitimizing Negative Aspects in GRI-Oriented Sustainability Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosure Strategies
Rüdiger Hahn,Regina Lülfs +1 more